Mr. Speaker, as an aside, I am very appreciative, as I think all members of the House would be, to see the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food here for this very important debate. I know we are sometimes out of order when we try to say who is not in the House, but I think we are probably in order when we recognize that people do take the time to come and listen to the debate. I want to say very sincerely that I appreciate that.
I listened attentively to the minister and I noted that he did not make any reference to cost recovery. We have seen that rise dramatically in recent years. I think Canadian farmers are paying something in the order of $134 million per year in cost recovery. This apparently is a decision to reduce the debt and deficit situation. It is not a countervail against the WTO or GATT. I would like the minister to comment on that and see whether we could do something to bring some of those costs down.